Teen arrested in Mt. Helix racist graffiti case

EAST COUNTY 
A 16-year-old boy was arrested Friday night on suspicion of writing racist graffiti on a minivan that belongs to an interracial family in Mount Helix, the Sheriff's Department said.

The teen is suspected of drawing a swastika on the vehicle as part of the graffiti, the department said. The graffiti included threats of lynching, said the van's owner, Maria Lee, a Latina married to a black man.

Another vehicle and another house on the street were also hit with similar graffiti the same night, June 30.

Detective Ed Southcott said the suspect appears to have acted alone and he has not been connected to any other vandalism cases. It was the second time the Lees have been a victim of racist vandalism.

Shortly after moving into the neighborhood five years ago, someone carved a pair of two-to-three-inch swastikas on posts holding up the family's porch roof. No arrests were made in that incident.